Category: Gift Ideas

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5 Gift Ideas for Teen Badminton Players

Yonex Men's Full Zip Hoodie 30049 Dark Grey

Far more than adults, brands are important to teens. And for many of our teenage badminton customers, Yonex ™ is the most important brand in the world. So it’s not hard for us to advise people with a teenage badminton player on their Christmas list. Pretty much anything with a Yonex logo on it is sure to be a hit.

Yonex Badminton Shoes

Although many different brands of court shoes are suitable for badminton, most of our teen badminton players wouldn’t be caught dead in anything other than Yonex. Racquet Network, of course, carries every Yonex model available in Canada, but none are as popular with teens as the Yonex Aerus 3.

The Aerus 3 is designed for competitive athletes and features all of Yonex’s premium shoe technologies.

Yonex Sports Towel

Branded sports towels have exploded in popularity over the past five years. This is because of television and internet coverage that shows professional players using towels to wipe their faces between points and on changeovers.

Sweat management is an important part of every athlete’s game plan. Using a Yonex sports towel to do it –like Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei — takes it to the next level of cool.

Yonex Water Bottle

Yonex water bottles are an inexpensive way for young athletes to brand themselves.

Available in silver and blue, these bottles tend to sell out over the holidays.

Yonex Apparel

Yonex apparel is extremely popular with teen badminton players. Here is a small selection of what we have available in-store and online.

Yonex Stencil Kit

As racquets are used and strings wear out, string stencils start to fade. Stencil/ink kits give teens an opportunities to freshen up their string stencils without having to re-string their racquets.

A few of our clients even make a little cash on the side by freshening up the stencils on their friends racquets.

Gift Certificate Option

If you are not sure what the young badminton player on your list has or doesn’t have, wants or doesn’t want, you can always opt for a gift certificate. We offer them all year round in $25.00 increments.

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Gift Ideas for Pickleball Players

Pickleball is extraordinarily popular right now. Quite rightly, it has a reputation as a game that is easy to learn. Unfortunately, it also has an unearned reputation of being an injury-free sport. Those who know better, though, know that there is no such thing as an injury-free sport.

As with all other court sports, injuries ranging from minor to major happen every day of the week all across North America. Many of these injuries are completely unnecessary. They happen because pickleball players are misinformed. They think they can’t get hurt, so they don’t take steps to prevent injuries.

At Racquet Network, we want to keep all pickleball players safe and healthy. So we offer our customers a range of useful products.

Proper Court Shoes

Most pickleball injuries occur as a result of falls. Players trip and fall because they are playing pickleball in running shoes. As they fall, they stick out their hand to break their fall and end up breaking or spraining their wrist.

Unlike running shoes which are designed for steady forward movement only, court shoes are designed for explosive movement in all directions.

Racquet Network offers more models of pickleball shoes than any other retailer in Canada. We have shoes for men and women of every size, width and colour preference. Check out the shoe section of our website to find the perfect pair of shoes for the pickleball player on your Christmas list.

Proper Athletic Clothing

In addition to proper court shoes, it is essential that pickleball players wear non-restrictive athletic clothing. Freedom of movement is essential for all athletes, regardless of age.

Unfortunately, many seniors who play pickleball either don’t have the money to spend on proper athletic clothing or believe that it is not necessary for athletes at their age/level.

In fact, as our certified coaches will tell you, it is even more important that athletes over fifty wear proper clothing: A) because they are more susceptible to injury and B) because it takes longer for their injuries to heal.

Training Tools

Over the past five years, the use of training tools such as step counters and heart rate monitors by middle-aged athletes has exploded. The primary motive for using these tools by athletes in this age group appears to be weight management.

Older athletes, meanwhile are using the same tools, but for different reasons. While middle-aged athletes are concerned with monitoring calories burned, athletes over 50 are rightfully concerned with monitoring their maximum heart rates.

Tennis Elbow Prevention/Treatment

Finally, no discussion about preventing pickleball-related injuries would be complete without pointing out that tennis elbow is the most common minor injury suffered by pickleball players of all ages.

Using a Theraband ™ Flexbar is the best way we know of to prevent tennis elbow from occurring. We are also told it is one of the best ways to help treat tennis elbow once you have it.

Gift Certificates

If you are still not sure what to get the pickleball player on your Christmas list, don’t worry. We sell gift certificates in $25.00 increments and our expert staff can help the recipient get exactly what he/she needs.

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Great Gift Ideas for for High School Volleyball Players

When a young athlete finds a sport they like, it is important to support them with the right shoes and training tools. It is equally important to let them express themselves through colour, styles and equipment choices. Racquet Network carries Calgary’s largest selection of indoor court shoes. We also offer a growing collection of volleyball gear for the high school volleyball player on your gift giving list.

Volleyball Shoes

Running shoes are great for running, but they are lousy shoes to play volleyball in. Volleyball requires movement in all directions but running shoes are only designed for movement in one direct — forward. Try running backward in running shoes and you are liable to catch your heel and go down hard

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL SHOES

LADIES VOLLEYBALL SHOES

High school volleyball players want shoes specifically designed for indoor court sports. They want shoes that stick to the hardwood and support athletic movement in all directions. Racquet Network offers more than 100 models of court shoes, many of which are perfect for high school volleyball.

Training Balls

Athletes who are serious about winning take time to train outside of coached practices. In fact, this is where most of their learning takes place.

Racquet Network supports high school athletes by offering a variety of training balls to help them in skills development.

Training Tools

Over the past five years, the use of training tools such as step counters and heart rate monitors by athletes of all ages has exploded.

Training tools help athletes manage their training loads and make smart decisions about nutrition and fitness.

Proper Athletic Clothing

In addition to proper court shoes, it is essential that volleyball players wear non-restrictive athletic clothing. Freedom of movement is essential for all athletes.

LADIES TOPS

Racquet Network carries athletic clothing for volleyball players of all ages.

MEN’S TOPS

Good quality athletic clothing helps young athletes manage perspiration and hygiene by wicking away moisture and inhibiting the growth of odor-causing bacteria.

Gift Certificates

If you are still not sure what to get the high school volleyball player on your Christmas list, don’t worry. We sell gift certificates in $25.00 increments and our expert staff can help the recipient get exactly what he/she needs.

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3 Great Gift Ideas for Your Squash Dad

Looking for gift ideas for your squash-playing Dad? Look no further. We see squash dads in our store every day of the week. We know what they are looking at. We know what they want but are afraid to buy for themselves.


SQUASH BAGS

Most of the racquet bags made today are multi-sport bags. They are designed to work for tennis, squash, badminton and/or any other racquet sport you can name.

Squash dads, though, spend a lot of time looking at squash-specific bags that have features that are highly specific to squash, including lined eyewear compartments, vented shoe compartments and external ball pouches for squash balls. These are features that you will not find in general purpose racquet bags.


SQUASH EYEWEAR

Most of the racquet bags made today are multi-sport bags. They are designed to work for tennis, squash, badminton and/or any other racquet sport you can name.

Squash dads, though, spend a lot of time looking at squash-specific bags that have features that are highly specific to squash, including lined eyewear compartments, vented shoe compartments and external ball pouches for squash balls. These are features that you will not find in general purpose racquet bags.


BABOLAT SQUASH SHOES

Few squash players realize that squash shoes wear out on the inside first. Long before shoes show signs of wear on the outside, they are completely shot on the inside. Shoes should be replaced every 500 kilometres or so. Since a squash match typically sees players moving three to five kilometers per hour of game time, guys who play twice a week should be replacing their shoes at least once a year.

Babolat ™ now makes the best overall quality indoor court shoe for squash.


GIFT CERTIFICATES

Still not sure what you get your squash dad for Christmas? Think about a gift certificate

We sell gift certificates in $25.00 denominations. They never expire.